Thierry Guignabaudet
Since
some months, the coming of year 2000 is a subject of conflict between states of
Pacific Ocean. Even, it's a worry for computers owners and psychiatric hospitals
of Jerusalem.
Beyond the fact that many people thinks we will leave the
second millenary after midnight on this december 31st, how many of them could
answer the question : "2000 years after what ?"
The right answer should
be : "2000 years after the 4th or the 7th birthday of a person wich none
historical source can proove the existence." Thus this comput is as available as
that of the jewish calendar wich begin with the Creation (October 7th
-3761).
More, if you find a document dated with the "era of the
Incarnation" previous the year 731, there is something wrong because the Church
used the roman calendar till Bede the Venerable in 1484 ab Urbe
Conditae.
The Muslims took up their calendar in the year 10 of
Hegira.
The only calendar begining at once after the event it is based on
is the so-called republican calendar took up 22.09.1792 when "the equality of
days and nights was marked in the sky in the same time as the civil and moral
equality was proclaimed by the representatives of the french
people".
In spite of their authors will, we must admit that none of
these eras can objectively assert an universal character of the event they
solemnize.
It only exists one positive and historically proved event,
sufficiently memorable, and with enough witnesses to be chosen as basis of an
era.
It happened in 1969 on July 21st at 2 h 56 mn 20 s (Greenwich hour)
in Mare Tranquilitatis.
But we could not use the 21.07.1969 as the
01.01.01 of any calendar.
First, because it is grotesque to make the
year begin out of an astronomical framework (although the heliacal rise of
Sirius is around July 20th). The Republic was well inspirated to begin on Autumn
equinox. In comparison, the January First corresponds with nothing (it is a
strange idea from the Greek Sosigen). It is more less inspirated to have 354.37
days lunar years. Why ? Because it is the solar cycle wich rules the harvest
coming back. This compels the jewish lunar calendar to be corrected with a
thirteenth month seven years on nineteen in order to be able to harvest every
year. It is true that islam and judaïsm, with their nomadic origins, had late
thoughts about agriculture.
Of course, the Romans had to struggle with a
lunar calendar which ended by celebrating the return of spring in the middle of
winter. But they chose afterwards a solar calendar needing a minimum of annual
correction. Why Sosigen had not the idea to make it begin on the winter solstice
? After all, the Romans celebrated on a sufficiently important bank in order
that the Church needed to usurp it. If we can seek a logical begining of the
solar year, it seems to me that we must find it on this day, when the days start
again to grow.
This brings us to the Fabre d'Eglantine's calendar (the
republican one) where quarters begin on solstices and equinoxes. Objections were
made about the names of months wich refered to french climate. For example,
pluviose, "rain month", is a winter month whereas in Britain it rains all
year long ; the harvest month (messidor) and the vintage one
(vendemiaire) are not the same in the Kent and in the Algarve. But is it
more logic to name december the twelfth month when decem means
ten? In fact, december means tenth after snow (decem ab
imbre), but this event don't happens on the same date in Rome and in
Moscow.
For this, the more universal calendar is the swahili one wich
names the months "first moon" (mwezi wa kwanza), "second moon" (mwezi wa pili)
and so on.
Meanwhile, twelve thirty-days months (with five or six
complementary days) disregards the unequal length of seasons : winter lasts 89
days, spring 93 days, summer nearly 94 days, and autumn 90 days. If we want to
begin the seasons on solstices and equinoxes, we must make months with 29, 30,
31, and 32 days on leap-years. If we want more equity, we can make an half-year
with thirty-days months (spring and summer) and an other part with six 31-days
months. This last solution don't care the spring equinox and the summer
solstice, but we can remove a day from Pluviose and put the leap day on
Fructidor 32nd to obtain a maximal regularity.
We can also wonder why
the day begins on midnight instead of the dawn when a simple logic and social
activities shows it should have to begin on 5 or 6 o'clock a.m. Don't answer
that is because the sun is on nadir on midnight : this is false in many
countries.
So, on Thermidor 1st in the year I of Cosmic Era, the man
(i.e. a white anglo-saxon heterosexual male) walked on the Moon.
This
fact made a problem for some people :
the Islam will finish when the man will walk on the
moon.
This unfortunated sentence is a hadith from the Koran
meaning "when the Hell freezes over"... What a big bug !
But, if the
year 1969 of Incarnation Era should retroactively began the year I of the Cosmic
Era, we should have a problem with dating the previous events.
The usual
system with negative years is exasperating (I believe it was invented by Bossuet
in 1681). According to the subunits in the scale of negative temperatures, it
should be logic to precede the date 01.01.01 with the date 01.01.-01.... And
when you read in an history book (because it happened many events around 750 ab
urbe condita) that such dynasty ruled from the seventh to the second century and
an other one ruled from the first to the third century, you can calculate their
reign continuance. But if you read that between the second and the first century
some barbarians destroyed the kingdom, you cannot know if this period of anarchy
lasted one or two centuries.
The scientists got rid of negative
temperatures with taking up the Kelvin scale. But the absolute zero don't have
any sense in history (except dating the Big Bang, but what about useless digits
in high ranks ?).
But there is a way to obtain dates with absolute cifers
based on Moon conquest :
On Thermidor First of the year 10.000, the man walked on the
Moon.
And now, let's have a glance to the new datation
:
In the first centuries, the Neolithic Era begin in
Europe.
Around the year 6500, Imhotep establishes the kingdom of
Egypt.
In the year 6738, Muwatalli, king of Hittits, with inumerable
forces including 3500 war chariots, crushes Pharao's armies in the plain of
Kadesh.
In the year 7255, the Greeks observe the first Olympic
Games.
In the year 7481, Anaximandre invents the sun-dial.
In
the year 7541, the Athenians, struggling pro aris et focis defeat the
king Cyrus Achemenid in the Maratho plain.
In the year 7700, King
Alexander, son of Philip, defeats King Darios in the Arbeles plain.
In
the year 7829, Romans defeat Punics in the Zama plain then submit all the
kingdoms on the Middle Sea shores.
Around the year 8000, Apollonius of
Tyane make miracles in all the hellenic orient.
In the year 8436, month
of Nivose, the Germans cross the frozen Rhine and invaded the roman
Gaul.
In the year 8482, Aetius, roman officer, and his gaulish and
german allies, defeat Attila in Campus Catalaunici.
In the year 8507,
Odoacre, king of Germans, dethrones Romulus Augustule, last caesar of
Rome.
In the 88th century, the Omayad dynasty defeats Parthians,
Lagids, Vandals, and Wisigoths.
From 9238 to 9333, Temujin and his
sons, kings of Tartarians, with 200.000 riders and the help of Everlasting
Sky, submit the main part of universe.
In the year 9484, Mehmet II,
king of Turks, dethrones Constantinus XI, last caesar of the Second
Rome.
In the year 9523, Christopher of Hispania lands on
America.
In the year 9618, Newton discovers the laws of
universe.
In the year 9736, Newcomen invents the
steam-engine.
In the year 9806, the Continental Congress of the United
States of America declares its right to exterminate the indian nations despite
the opinion of the british monarchy.
In the year 9814, first human
flight in a mongolfier.
In the year 9820, in France, the duke Philippe
d'Orléans, owning the first fortune in the kingdom of France, finances
spontaneous popular riots (as say scholars books) in order to dethrone his
cousin the king Louis the sixteenth.
In the year 9830, in result of
this troubles, Napoleon Bonaparte got the power.
In the year 9846, at
the Congress of Vienna, Metternich invents a new Europe.
In the year
9869, Karl Marx publishes the Communist Party Manifesto.
In the
year 9921, Clement Ader does the firts flight with "heavier than
air".
In the year 9936, the Rising Sun Empire defeats the Russian
Empire, showing to the colonized peoples that European Powers are not
invincible.
In the year 9945, the bourgeoisie of the atlantic Europe
send his lower class in the trenches against the lower class of the
aristocracy of the central Europe.
In the year 9948, Vladimir the
First, king of Bolcheviks, defeats Nicolas II, last caesar of the Third Rome.
End of the Roman Empire.
In the year 9969, Adolf the First, king of
nazis, begins to build a colonial empire in Eastern Europe.
In the year
9970, Winston Churchill declares to Adolf that is illegal to treat the Slavic
peoples as niggers.
In the year 9976, Joeph Stalin, king of Soviets,
inherits the main part of nazi colonial empire.
During the last quarter
of the 100th century, the USA and the USSR fights to inherit the european
colonial empires.
In the year 10000, Neil Armstrong lands on the Moon
(with left foot).
In the year 10010, the Soviets invad Afghanistan.
In the year 10020, the fall of the Berlin Wall betokens the end of the
Soviets Empire. End of the Cth century.
In the following decade, Berlin
rules again on the Eastern Europe and Tokyo on the Asian Pacific Area. ("Yalta
? What Yalta ?")
This scheme is as illuminating as the
classical comparison of geological history like a year where the man appars on
last day.
Of course, we will still have dates like "Around -30.000, Cro
Magnon appears in Europe", but, as neolithic begins around the year 1, the word
"prehistory" becomes synonymous with "negative datation", and this fact helps to
clarify the brains of people wich believe that prehistorical men fought
tyranosaurus...
